Real Madrid sealed their chance for a fourth straight season with a three goal thrashing of Atletico Madrid, courtesy of a Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat trick in the first leg of the UEFA semi-final played at the Bernabeu, Tuesday.
Athletico were a shadow of themselves before a Real goal machine as they could only manage one shot at goal. But for goal keeper Jan Oblak who stood between Real and the goal, Ronaldo’s three goals scored through a header in the first 10 minutes of the game, a 16 yards smashing shot and a well controlled Vazquez’s cross, would have been capped by goals from other players who took advantage of the tame, goal shy Atletico players’ lackluster performance.
With this goal advantage and a team in full blast, Real look set for the final with the eventual winner between Monaco and Juventus, who take their first tie Wednesday.
Coach Zidane told the press:
“I’m not sure whether we’ve put in a better performance since I took over. We produced a great display and it was far from easy to go out and score three goals tonight. Our opening half an hour was fantastic and we had a lot of chances to have got a second, but we didn’t manage to do so until after the break. We’re very happy with our performance, the three goals and, above all, to have kept a clean sheet here at home. This was a great performance and perhaps our best yet”.
“Today we’re entitled to be happy and enjoy how we performed out there. There’s still a long way to go, both in LaLiga and the Champions League. We haven’t won anything yet. I don’t think that you could say that we’re in a state of euphoria. We’ll enjoy this one tonight and then rest up. Tomorrow we’ll turn our attention to what’s an important game on Saturday”.
